In more than 40 episodes spanning 75 years, equity and bond fund investors have defied predictions that they would panic and spark crises. Yet banking regulators won’t let go of their “run” scenario. Why?

Confidence vote in Italian PM set for August 20

A confidence vote in Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will take place on August 20.

Representatives from the political groups in parliament picked the date on Monday and it was backed by lawmakers in the Senate on Tuesday evening. The date was opposed by the ruling far-right League, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and the Brothers of Italy, all of whom who wanted the confidence vote to take place as early as Wednesday to speed up a process that could lead to a snap election.

Last week, League leader and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini pulled the plug on his coalition government with the 5Star Movement and called the vote of no-confidence in Conte, who is not a member of either party. If the vote passes, as is widely expected, President Sergio Mattarella will have to decide whether to call a new vote as early as October, or to install a new government.

Over the weekend, some lawmakers from the Democratic Party (PD), spearheaded by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, led efforts to put together a caretaker government that could step in and pass the country's budget in the fall and also constitutional reform that would cut the number of seats in the Italian parliament.

PD leader Nicola Zingaretti on Sunday ruled out such an arrangement but his close allies, including former Culture Minister Dario Franceschini and MP Goffredo Bettini, a former MEP, said on Tuesday that the PD should consider a political tie-up with the 5Stars until the end of the current parliamentary term in 2023.

Renzi said after Tuesday's decision was announced: "Tonight's vote will show a new parliamentary majority is possible."

In a bid to stop that happening, Salvini said during the debate in the Senate that he was "open" to passing the legislation to cut parliamentary seats before heading to the polls. However, constitutional reform to effectively redesign the Italian parliament would likely take months to implement.